


I've Got Friends On The Other Side

by heroalba



Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: Cannibalism, Character Death, Gen, Violence, making up ghoul!hide on the spot, oneshot verse, so probably bad characterization apologies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-08
Updated: 2015-01-20
Packaged: 2018-03-06 17:33:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3142832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heroalba/pseuds/heroalba
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An expansion of the oneshot Tokyo Ghoul universe with a helping of ghoul!Hide and slight HideKane written for a friend, will mostly be drabbles and prompts.<br/>Basically, Hide and Kaneki are assholes, but they're assholes together and that's all that counts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [egglube](https://archiveofourown.org/users/egglube/gifts).



Kaneki stretched his arms over his head, jolting when something cold prodded against his side. He glanced up and to the side, mouth set in an irritated way and eyes cut in a glare, but when he saw who it was he relaxed. A faint smile quirked his lips.

"Aren’t you supposed to be working?" Hide asked, dropping the can of coffee in Kaneki’s lap (er, open hands now) and dropped to sit on the steps beside him. His friend grunted, subconsciously swiping his thumb over the tab of his drink before cracking it open and taking a long drink.

Even though it wasn’t nearly as good as Touka’s or Yoshimura’s, the coffee was refreshing and he grumbled a short, good-natured ‘thanks’ as he swallowed. Hide just grinned at him.

"You didn’t answer my question, you bum," he complained, shifting his headphones. Kaneki could hear something playing, it sounded like rock, and made a face at him.

"You’ll ruin your hearing with that," he chastised and Hide rolled his eyes at him, taking a swig of coffee and making an exaggerated motion towards his friend, prompting him to try to defend himself against accusations of being lazy. Kaneki sighed, humoring his friend with, "It’s my break."

"Long ass break then," Hide muttered playfully, bumping his shoulder against Kaneki’s as he leaned over. "I’ve seen you out here for like, forty five minutes. I’m lucky if I get ten!"

Avoiding the swat aimed his way Kaneki cracked a grin.

"Well  _maybe_ if you didn’t sneak out every two hours to come see me, you would have longer breaks,” he said, voice lilted smugly, and Hide’s cheeks puffed up in some semblance of a pout. Kaneki thought he looked like a hamster.

"It’s not  _every_ two hours, it’s when I feel like it! Rabbits get lonely on their own, y’know!”

Kaneki laughed with Hide as his side was prodded, this time by a finger. “Then you should come work at Anteiku. Manager doesn’t bite,” he offered, shifting his hand absently as an ant crawled over his knuckles. His blond friend’s eyes lit up- he looked like his kakugan was going to appear any minute. And, as amusing as that would be, Kaneki didn’t particularly feel like having to pry a Dove off his best friend.

"You really mean it?" Hide asked, as though Kaneki had ever lied to him. Then he frowned. "Wait. That means…"

The darker-haired ghoul narrowed his eyes quizzically, resting his arm on his knee with an upturned palm, asking for more. Was there some sort of problem?

Hide’s eyes glimmered cheekily, pristine white teeth showing against his lips as he grinned.

"I get to see Touka-chan every day, then?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaneki laments over the fact that ghouls and people can't possibly live together. Then he kills someone.

Keys jangling as he shoved them in his pocket, Kaneki sighed. He’d just finished locking up the cafe- Touka’d had to go home early to study for college entrance exams. He had no idea why she even bothered. Learning human trade was useless, and he was almost positive she’d get caught and killed. The thought stirred an unpleasant feeling in his stomach that he promptly ignored, deciding it was high time he head home and get changed to hunt.

______________________________________________________

Kaneki ignored the buzzing of his phone in his pocket, knowing Hide would understand when he finally did answer. His senses were on hyper alert, breath warm on his face and mask pushed against his nose. Sometimes he wished he didn’t have to wear the damn thing, since all it did was hinder his vision and sense of smell. He’d been told (by Hide and Touka) that it was pretty creepy, too, and that wouldn’t help him a bit if he had to convince his prey to follow him to a good spot for the kill. But he couldn’t afford not to, with so many damn Doves crawling around the 20th ward now. 

He smirked a bit at the thought that maybe that was his fault.

_Oops._

He refocused to the task at hand, peeking out of the shadows to see if his prey had moved from her spot under the streetlamp. She was smart, sticking to the light in a (usually) populated place. But Kaneki was hungry and  _most definitely_ stronger.  That and she was too absorbed in her book to notice that the only patrons left in the park were herself and a hungry ghoul.

He let his eyes turn and his kagune unfurl, kakugan tinting his vision with red and rinkaku poised to strike. He was close enough to get a whiff of perfume, and his stomach growled at the artificial scent.   
Kaneki’s mouth watered and he took a breath to calm himself down. If he made it a messy kill, he would spill a lot of blood. And the blood was his favorite part.

Checking again to make sure they were alone, Kaneki moved to strike, eyes following the girl (woman?) as she glanced up, finally noticing her predicament. She didn’t look scared of being alone, but her movements were harried when she stood, stuffing her book into the duffle bag hanging at her side. Kaneki repressed a chuckle of amusement at the action, pacing himself.   
Her shadow stretched out long behind her, heels clicking against the pavement as she neared the edge of her circle of safety-

Kaneki moved, one hand extended to grab the woman by the arm and the other shoving his mask up, his teeth already bared in a ghoulish grin. He saw her eyes widen and a short scream tried to escape her, but it was cut off when he wrapped his kagune around her, the strands of muscle pulsing and constricting around her torso and cutting off her air. Though he would have liked to hear her scream, they were in a far-too-public place.

Kagune holding the squirming woman in place, Kaneki tangled a hand in her hair (long and purple, dyed and soft) and yanked her head back, hearing her vertebrae crack. Another jilted sound of shock and pain made it out of her throat, which the ghoul wasted no time sinking his teeth into, feeling her vocal chords vibrate with the beginnings of a shout of pain.   
He made sure it didn’t last too long, his kagune coiling tighter around her body (he heard the pleasant sound of breaking bones and thought with satisfaction that he was as effective a killer as a python) and teeth tearing through her jugular. Hot,  _sweet_ blood filled his mouth and he swallowed each mouthful happily, kakugan pulsing pleasantly. He felt the delicious fluid escape his lips and slide down his chin, but didn’t move until he could no longer feel the woman’s pulse against his teeth. 

After she went completely limp, lifeless, Kaneki pulled away from her throat with a wet, tearing sound, sighing blissfully as the still-warm flesh filled his stomach. He looked up, around, then started to tote her to a place where he could eat without fear of being caught. He retracted his kagune and wiped his mouth on his sleeve, trying to look at least a little inconspicuous. He patted his pocket with his free hand, wrapping his other arm around his meal’s waist to support her weight. She felt feather-light in his grip, her bag starting to slip off her arm and her legs dragging the ground. Kaneki didn’t mind- at least it kind of looked like he was dragging a drunk person away.

He pulled out his phone, scrolling through his  _missed_ calls and finding that Hide had, indeed, attempted to call him earlier. He huffed slightly in amusement, then hit the redial button, pressing his phone to his ear. There were three rings and then,  _"You asshole. Why didn’t you answer my call earlier?"_

Kaneki smiled, imagining his friend pouting (he still looked like a hamster) on the other end of the line. He adjusted the woman in his arms and felt her head loll against his neck, her hair covering her face. He removed his mask, grateful that her bag was still in-tact after the attack. He didn’t rifle through her stuff, just deposited his mask to avoid suspicion. His jacket was dark enough that blood stains wouldn’t be noticed, especially not so late at night.

"I was hunting," he replied, almost hearing Hide’s pout deepen through his split-second silence. Then he huffed.  _"I’m more important than your gluttony, Ken!"_ Hide chastised, and the ghoul rolled his eyes, smiling (close-lipped) at a young couple passing him.   
"Yeah you are," he answered, laughing at the sound of Hide’s dispondant noise his sarcasm must have wrought.  _"For that you’re an ultimate asshole. Anyway! I have news!"_

Kaneki hummed, waiting for his friend to give him said news while he navigated down the busy street. He was lucky he hadn’t spilled more blood, he thought in hindsight. He’d have Doves jumping him any moment if the lady in his arms had had even a speck of blood on her dress…

Hide didn’t respond and Kaneki growled. “Well? What is it?” His heart did a little flip-flop because Hide  _never_ went quiet like that, especially when it was ‘news’.  His pace slowed slightly, and he almost flinched when someone bumped into him, cutting a sharp glare the stranger’s way and heading for his home. It wasn’t that far away, anyway.

_"Well…"_

“‘Well’ what?”

_"Hey, Kaneki, where are you right now?"_

The question caught the raven-haired ghoul by surprise.

"Heading home, about five minutes away. Why?"

There was another moment of silence and Kaneki adjusted his partner again, trying to make her look as lifelike as possible. He even muttered something under his breath ’to’ her, avoiding the glance of a suit-clad man sitting in a patio seat in a restaurant. 

 _"I’ll tell you when you get there, mm?"_    
Not giving Kaneki the chance to protest, the blond hung up. The other ghoul huffed in irritation and worry, picking up his pace and hoping the odd angle of his prey’s legs wouldn’t give him away. He assumed he’d call Hide when he returned home…  


… Or not. The minute he stepped inside, a bundle of bright blond teenager was flung at him. Kaneki let out a very undignified yelp and his kakuhou tensed, threatening to let his kagune out to defend him. Hide grinned up at him from the floor.

"I didn’t know you had a date tonight, man!"

Kaneki scoffed, locking his door behind him and letting his prey tumble to the floor. Though she hadn’t been heavy, she still put a small strain on his arm, and he rotated his shoulder with a scowl directed towards his friend. He must have used the spare key.

 ”What are you doing here? You had me worried half to death,” Kaneki huffed, reaching to grab the woman by her hair to drag her further into his home. To finsih his meal, of course. His stomach was practically snarling at him and his jaw ached to chew through flesh, though it had been a mere week since his last meal.

Hide grinned (Kaneki had his back to him but he could tell, Hide had one of those smiles) and picked himself up, following his friend into the living room. Kaneki made a face when he saw the overnight bags crowded around his couch, pulling his meal over to the tarp he’d set out (it helped keep things at least a little neat). 

"I got kicked out!" Hide suddenly spouted, his voice loud and cheerful. Kaneki halted in his tracks, looking up at Hide through his fringe with wide gray eyes. 

His friend’s grin stayed in place.

"Why?"

Hide shrugged.

"My folks wanted me to apply to one of the colleges around here, they said I was too smart to be a waiter for the rest of my life."

That made Kaneki scowl, but he said nothing, handing his prey’s bag to Hide. Hide always had liked to rustle around in other people’s things.

The blond started going through the items with care, and Kaneki huffed, assuming he was done talking.

"That’s fucking stupid. They know better than anyone how hard it is to stay hidden when you’re all intermingled in with ‘em," he bit out, and Hide nodded absently, fingers picking at the edge of the lady’s wallet. "Plus, college costs money. Which one were they wanting you to apply to?"

"Kamii."

Hide’s eyes flickered up at Kaneki’s snort, glittering with amusement.

"What? Don’t think I can get in?"

The raven shook his head, trying to stifle his chuckles. Though, it  _was_  hard to see Hide in a prestigious school like Kamii University. 

"Nah. Well, maybe," he admitted, and Hide’s cheeks puffed up, though Kaneki didn’t sense any bitterness in his friend. He used his strength to sever his meal’s forearm, sinking his teeth into the soft muscle and flesh easily. Younger women were the tastiest, although most flesh tasted the same. 

Hide rolled his eyes at him, then set the lady’s wallet down. Her ID read  _Kamishiro Rize_  and Kaneki absently marveled at how pretty the name was, especially when coupled with her face and taste in literature. He could see the vague pattern of the cover of one of Takatsuki Sen’s works still tucked away in the bag.  _Too bad she wasn’t a ghoul._

"No but I told them I wasn’t interested in any of that. Then dad got mad and we got in a fight so…" He shrugged, and Kaneki shot him a sympathetic glance. His own parents had passed away when he was young, and his aunt had abandoned him some years later because she was a selfish bitch. 

"Want a bite?" he offered, and his blond friend shook his head, laughing. "Not everyone’s hungry all the time, Ken," he said, adding, "I ate with you last week, remember?"

The raven blinked, then nodded and shrugged. “Yeah, I guess. I’m sorry, man,” he added with a grimace, pulling one brightly-painted fingernail off his tongue with a scowl. He hated the taste of nail polish.  
Hide smiled brightly, all sunshine again.

"It’s fine. They’ll cool down soon," he added, stretching out on Kaneki’s couch and folding his arms behind his head and making himself comfortable. It almost irked him that the blond had just invited himself in, but at the same time his chest swelled with affection for his friend. 

At least he livened the place up.


End file.
